Italian Grapes

My neighbor invited my mother and me to pick grapes from his vine in his back yard.  The vine was brought back from southern Italy. He said there are just too many and he wanted to share. He began to tell us stories of our town and people he knew and so many amazing things. He was born and raised in my area, and then at 17, he moved to D.C. and then New York, and then GERMANY. He lives in Germany now and the property where the grapes were belongs to is partner. I learned so much this afternoon. I am so excited about the grapes. I plan to give some to my professor (she is italian) and Neal as well. And of course I will be keeping some for myself...after we can and jam =)

My First Tutoral....Pie Crust...and Apple Pie

Apple Pie fit for à la mode

First and foremost I had to remove my rings and put them in my milk glass candle holder

Gather ingredients:

1 1/8 cups all purpose flour, plus some for dusting work surface
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar (for sweet pies only)
8 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 chunks
3 tbsp ice water, plus more if necessary

1 8-10-inch pie dish or tart pan

  Combine flour and salt in food processor.  (Whisk together if you haven’t got a food processor)

 Add butter and turn on machine, processing about 10 seconds or until the butter and flour are blended and the mixture resembles cornmeal. 

      Place mixture into a bowl and sprinkle with 3 tbsp of ice water. dd more water as necessary. 

     Use a wooden spoon to gradually gather the mixture into a ball; if the mixture seems too dry, add another ½ tbsp ice water and mix until you can gather into a ball with your hands. 

        Wrap ball of dough in plastic wrap, flatten into a disk and place in freezer for 10 minutes (or 30 minutes in fridge) to ease rolling. At this point you could also refrigerate the dough for a day or two, or freeze it almost indefinitely.

  Unwrap dough, lightly sprinkle its top with flour and roll out onto a lightly floured board or countertop; if the dough is too hard, let it sit for a minute or two (it should give a little when you press your fingers into it).

After the dough is rolled, place in pie dish. DO NOT STRETCH DOUGH.  Cut edges to be sure there is no extra hanging over. Pinch the edges.



I didn't document the making of the apple pie, but here is the recipe. Mmmm

Makes 12 Slices

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
4 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cut into thin wedges (enough for two layers)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small dice

1. Set the oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

2. Put the cinnamon, sugar, salt, and sliced apples into a container and shake apple slices to coat with mixture.

3.Layer apple slices in circular arrangement to cover bottom of pie crust.

4. Pour heavy cream into 2-cup glass measuring cup. Add eggs and vanilla and beat with a fork or small whisk to combine. Pour half of egg mixture over top of pie. Layer remaining apples in pie and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Pour remaining cream mixture over top of pie. Dot with butter.

4. Bake 10 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350°F, and bake 45 minutes more, or until filling bubbles rapidly and edges of crust are nicely browned. Check pie during baking; if crust is browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil. Cool pie on rack at least 2 hours before serving. This pie is best served the day it is baked. Store covered with paper towels and plastic wrap in the refrigerator.